Season of grudges

The Michigan football team 
has had success this season 
by holding vendettas against 
any and all opponents

» Page 2B

Tune-up Cruise

The Wolverines blew out 
Division II Northwood, 
90-58, in a tune-up 
exhibition game on Friday.

» Page 3B

SPORTSMONDAY

The Michigan Daily | michigandaily.com | November 5, 2018

Design by Jack Silberman
Katelyn Mulcahy & Amelia Cacchione/ Daily

Wolverines
dominate Nittany Lions

The Michigan football 
team remembers the losses it 
took in 2017. They were what 
inspired the now-infamous 
“Revenge Tour” comments 
Chase Winovich made last 
month — the fifth-year senior 
defensive end said he felt tired 
of losing in either one-sided or 
agonizing fashion.
Michigan’s 42-13 defeat 
at Penn State last year was 
both. Defensive coordinator 
Don Brown said he thought 
each day about the 42 points 
the Wolverines allowed. 
Winovich and his teammates, 
meanwhile, were irked by the 
Nittany Lions’ running up of 
the score late in the game. 
So it was only fitting 
that vindication was on 

Michigan’s mind heading into 
Saturday’s battle with Penn 
State.
“If we had the chance,” 
said junior quarterback Shea 
Patterson, “we were going to 
run it up, too.”
The fifth-ranked 
Wolverines (6-0 Big Ten, 
8-1 overall) did just that, 
dispatching the fourteenth-
ranked Nittany Lions (3-3, 
6-3), 42-7, for yet another 
successful stop along 
Winovich’s “Revenge Tour”.
Michigan rushed for 259 
yards while holding Penn 
State to just 186 yards of 
total offense. Senior running 
back Karan Higdon had his 
seventh-straight contest with 
100 rushing yards or more, 
moving one game away from 
the record set by Mike Hart 
in 2007.
After a touchdown catch 

by redshirt junior tight end 
Zach Gentry made it 21-0, 
the Wolverines broke the 
game open with a pair of 
interceptions in the third 
quarter. Fifth-year senior 
cornerback Brandon Watson 
made the first, which he 
returned 62 yards for his 
second pick-six of the year.
Penn State punted on its 
ensuing possession, and 
Michigan embarked another 
run-dominant drive — capped 
off by a four-yard Higdon 
touchdown run — before 
David Long allowed the 
Wolverines to tack on their 
final exclamation point.
The junior cornerback 
intercepted quarterback 
Trace McSorely deep in 
Nittany Lion territory, 
and four plays later, junior 
running back Chris Evans 
scampered in for Michigan’s 

sixth and final touchdown of 
the evening.
“It was a really impressive 
team tonight in all phases,” 
coach Jim Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh had high praise 
for Penn State’s defensive 
line this past week, but he 
challenged it from the get-go 
with eight consecutive runs 
on Michigan’s first offensive 
series. Higdon took one of 
those carries for 50 yards, 
which put the Wolverines on 
the doorstep for Patterson’s 
second rushing touchdown of 
the season.
Following two early punts, 
McSorely, who played with 
a brace after tweaking his 
right knee last week, handed 
Michigan possession when 
he botched a handoff in the 
second quarter. Seven straight 
runs later, Patterson delivered 
a 23-yard touchdown strike 

to Donavon Peoples-Jones, 
lifting the Wolverines’ 
advantage to 14. It was 
the pair’s seventh scoring 
connection of the season.
In celebration, the 
sophomore receiver reinacted 
Saquon Barkley’s touchdown 
celebration from last year’s 
game — a flailing-armed 
sprint across the endzone.
“It was personal from the 
start,” Patterson said.
Michigan outgained the 
Nittany Lions, 210 to 77, in the 
first half and had chances to 
extend its lead to three scores. 
But a blocked field goal and 
timely sack kept Penn State 
within striking distance at the 
frame’s end.
The score was ultimately a 
mirage, however. Michigan 
continued to pummel the 
Nittany Lions in the second 
half as its defense took over. 

The Wolverines finished 
with six tackles-for-loss — 
including four first-half sacks 
— and allowed just 118 yards 
through the air.
“The most impressive 
thing to me is Don Brown,” 
Harbaugh said. “I’m 
reminded of the old jingle 
in the seventies, ‘You said 
Don Brown, you said it all.’ 
He’s the king of defensive 
coordinators.”
It was indeed a fitting 
end for both Brown and 
Winovich. With another 
lopsided win over a ranked 
opponent, Michigan feels like 
it can win its first Big Ten 
Championship since 2004.
“We’re the team to beat in 
the Big Ten,” Winovich said. 
“That’s not a controversial 
statement, it’s just, I think 
that’s a fact at this point this 
year.”

MARK CALCAGNO
Daily Sports Editor

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